The alleged government delay in commencing the procedures in full swing for delimiting local body wards is likely to upset the process that needs to be completed within a time schedule.
Local Administration Department sources told The Hindu that the government would have to issue a notification detailing its decision to either constitute or reconstitute local self-government institutions and that first step is crucial to set the ball rolling.
The political indecision is feared to stymie the entire process that should be completed well ahead of the next local body elections.
The State Election Commission would take over the process only after the government issues the notification.
The last elections were held in two phases on November 2 and 5, 2015 and now the government would get only about six months to complete the entire process.
Many challenges
The current delimitation exercise has many challenges too. For, the population in a majority of the local body wards was fixed as per the 2001 census and in the case of those local bodies that were reconstituted before the last elections was fixed on the basis of the 2011 census report.
Population census
Of the 87 municipalities, except for the 28 carved out in 2015, the population strength in 59 is still based on the 2011 census. Only the Kollam and Kannur Corporation wards have revised population strength and the remaining four still go by the 2001 census.
But for Thiruvananthapuram, all other district panchayats have an updated strength.
All the 941 grama panchayats and except some block panchayats a majority still have the population pattern based on the 2001 census. This is a major anomaly and the imbalance calls for an immediate correction.
Panel recommendations
A panel designated by the government for drawing up a preliminary report for delimiting local bodies had recommended against forming new municipalities.
The committee, headed by the Principal Director, Local Self-Government Department, with the Director of Panchayats as convener, had reported to the government against increasing the number of municipalities from the present 87 since the majority of the 28 municipalities constituted by upgrading panchayats in 2015 are still battling teething troubles.
The proposals of the committee are still being discussed but no final decision has been taken so far. Further delay in starting the process would force the delimitation commission to rush through the procedures and the haste may push the entire process into legal tangles, sources said.